The Sarganserland alpine blessing is a prayer with which shepherds in the region between the Walensee and the Tamina valley appeal to God, Mary and the saints for protection against dangers during the alpine summer. By reciting the prayer, they commit all the living creatures on the alpine pastures as well as their honour and property to the care of a higher power. The alpine farmers learn the blessing as school children together with the Lord's Prayer, Ave Maria and the creed and usually recite it from the hilltops every day. The prayer takes the form of a recitative based on just a few notes, making it reminiscent of the Gregorian chant of the Roman Catholic church. The Sarganserland animal and shepherds' blessing first appeared in print in 1862, while the musical notation was published in 1867 and an audio recording in 2006.
The alpine blessing on Alp Lasa, canton of St. Gallen. Transcription by Heinrich Szadrowsky © Heinrich Szadrowsky, 1864
A milk funnel by Weissküfer Johann Fässler (a Weissküfer is a traditional woodworker specialising in the production of utensils for the dairy industry), Appenzell, 1972 © Graphikklasse der Kunstgewerbeschule Bern/Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser
Prayer call in Eastern Switzerland, probably Sarganserland
Detailed description
Sarganserländer Alpsegen (PDF, 396 kB, 31.05.2018)Ausführliche Beschreibung
Category
Knowledge concerning nature
Canton
Audio
Albert Good, Mels, canton of St. Gallen: alpine blessing © Aus: Bättruef. Alpsegen. Swiss Alpine Prayer. Ed. Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser. Oberhofen am Thunersee: Zytglogge Verlag und Schweizer Radio DRS, 2006 (Track 10)
Publications
Brigitte Bachmann-Geister: Der Betruf in den Schweizer Alpen. Zürich, 2006
Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser (Ed.): Bättruef. Alpsegen. Swiss Alpine Prayer. Ed. Zytglogge Verlag. Oberhofen am Thunersee, 2006 (CD)
Werner Burkhard: Ein literaturgeschichtliches Lesebuch. Von den Anfängen bis ins Barockzeitalter (Schriftwerke deutscher Sprache 1). Aarau, 1964
Alois Senti: Sagen aus dem Sarganserland (2 Bände). Basel, 1974/1998
Alois Senti: Sagen aus dem Sarganserland. Nachlese. In: Schweizer Volkskunde 94. Basel, 2004, p. 61–89
Alois Senti: Der Sarganserländer Alpsegen. Mels, 1994
Justin Winkliner: Der Betruf des Sarganserlandes. Aspekte mündlicher Tradierung. In: Schweizer Volkskunde 71.5. Basel, 1981, p. 88–95
Bruno Moll: Alpsegen. Mit Franz Ambauen, Josef Brun, Mina Inauen. 2012 (Dokumentarfilm)
Tonisepp Wyss-Meier: Der Betruf im deutschsprachigen und rätoromanischen Raum. Appezell, 2007, p. 124–130
Keywords
Summer
